I stopped telling people what lyrics meant to them when I saw them tattoo it on them, because it clearly meant much more to them than it ever did to me.
I was on a TV show called ‘Glee.’ I mean, I was on the real tail end of that show; it was already way past its peak. But still, for me aged 17 landing something like that was a big deal.
I’m not a control freak in that like I boss everybody around, but like a control freak and like, I like knowing exactly what I get to do that day and having a say.
A lot of the time, in pop music especially, there’s reverb. And the reason is that reverb makes vocals sound better 99% of the time. It makes the notes ring out.
I feel like a lot of music producers have, like, the same toolbox. And I think, like, to me, as a producer, like, I want something to set my stuff apart.
Obviously I’m very grateful ‘Bad Guy’ is doing so well – it’s shocking and surprising and gratifying – but I do think it’s important to try to make the next song that people are gonna be excited about.
I had a very positive, wonderful, happy upbringing, and still, for several reasons, I really didn’t enjoy being a child very much. I felt that I had no control over my life and everything seemed scarier and larger than life.
What I really didn’t want to do is work with other people and have them go, ‘Oh, Finneas just does that sound for everybody.’ The Billie sound is only Billie – I’ll only do that for her.
I am just fascinated by music and I want to know how to identify all the things I love about it; to me music theory is like learning another language and then being able to explain how much you love something more clearly.
I love pop songs so much and I don’t put a ton of pressure on myself as a solo artist to always write the most commercial feeling thing, I just want to write things I would love to listen to.
My dreams as a kid were so far below the Grammys, like, maybe selling out a show, or, like, seeing your album on a shelf in an Urban Outfitters… and the Grammys are so far above that. It’s very ridiculous.
